School's out...for the summer

This is Jacob's Early Childhood Family Education class. We have met weekly since February and today was our last class. The class is set up with play time in the beginning, activity and story time, followed by snack time. The instructor, Sandy, (far right - blue denim) has done a wonderful job of having a theme each week. The play time and activities correspond to the book she is reading. She is retiring this year and will no doubt be missed! Tia, (far left - yellow) is one of the assistants and facilitates snack time so that the parents can leave for discussion time with Sandy. Two of the other parents are hiding but Emily (red shirt next to Sandy) is my good friend who I reunited with via Facebook. Sandy sent us home today with a plethora of fantastic summertime activities with we will enjoy until taking part in another class this fall.

Thursdays are a big deal

Every Thursday Jacob patiently waits for the garbage truck. Every other week he gets to see the recycling truck as well. It makes for a very exciting morning. The drivers always wave if they see him. If Jacob could answer the question "What do you want to be when you grow up?" I am quite certain right now he would respond that he would like to drive the garbage/recycling truck.

I was trying to come up with a funny caption for this picture but honestly, it is 8pm and all I can think about is pouring a glass of wine and watching the season finale of Survivor. I'm waiting for Scott to get home from the gym...we have avoided any spoilers today so we are in for a surprise.

Anyway, Jacob is busy. And fun. And hilarious. It takes a lot of energy to be a 16 month old. No wonder he sleeps 12-14 hours in a day. Can you imagine?

Mommy's little helper

Warning: This is contagious.

A beautiful day in the neighborhood

We spent two hours out on our bikes yesterday. Hastings has a fantastic trail system which goes along both the Mississippi and Vermillion rivers. It was a beautiful day for a ride. Jacob loves his trailer - the first time he wasn't so sure about but after trying it out he decided it is quite fun to go biking with Mom and Dad.

Little People for Little People

This picture turned out a bit blurry but if you look closely you can see from the shape of Jacob's mouth that he is saying "vrrrrr" which is of course, what a car sounds like. He is enjoying his Little People Gas Station and his Little People Pirate Ship. Believe it or not, I found these items in great condition at a garage sale here in town. If you know me well you know that I am usually not a big fan of garage sales - but I am coming around and will check them out specifically for kids items due to the fact that toys and clothes are short lived. This garage sale that I found was fantastic - they had a play kitchen, desk, and tool bench. If Jacob was a bit older I would have snatched those up as well. Maybe next summer. Anyway, the weather is getting warmer and we're spending most of our time outdoors so toys are really overrated this time of year. :)

May Day baskets

Jacob delivered May Day baskets to some of his friends in town. He knew the story of how he was supposed to ring the doorbell and run away - if he was caught he would get a kiss. He told me he would just ring the doorbell this year and offer kisses - he said maybe next year he'll be able to run really fast, without injuries.

This picture makes him look really tall...but he is getting really tall! Those little legs are actually growing. Maybe we won't have to roll his pants for the rest of his life like his Dad does.